THE GROUND SQUIRRELS OP CALIFORNIA. 675 



At the railroad station of Whitewater this animal was found by 

 museum collectors to be common, June 3 to 5 (1908), in a tract of sand 

 dunes nearby. The shrill calls or whistles were heard frequently, and 

 many of the squirrels were trapped. Some of these were young, one- 

 third to one-half grown. The old males and part of the old females 

 taken then were very fat; all the rest lean. A female taken at Mecca, 

 March 27, was found to contain five large embryos. The extent of the 

 breeding season is thus indicated. Doubtless but one litter is raised 

 each year. 



Search in the vicinity of Palm Springs in December and January of 

 different years has failed to show the presence of these squirrels actively 

 abroad; so that it is likely that they hibernate during midwinter. In 

 1916, Swarth (MS) found them out on February 4 in a tract of sandy 

 soil about a mile east of the village. They occurred in small scattered 

 colonies, each ' 1 colony ' ' marked by twelve to fifteen open holes on level 

 ground among creasote bushes. "Parts of the burrows were shallow, 

 so that a person would sink through into them ankle deep." The 

 animals when alarmed would scurry to their holes and disappear into 

 them, but would presently poke up their heads and utter "faint little 

 barks. '/ 



No information has come to us that would indicate any decided 

 economic bearing on the part of the Palm Springs Round-tailed Ground 

 Squirrel. Because of its dry-land preferences it is likely that reclama- 

 tion and irrigation of the land would drive it away rather than attract 

 it. Thus the reaction would be just the opposite to that in the case of 

 the Oregon Ground Squirrel and similar species. 



SIERRA GOLDEN-MANTLED GROUND SQUIRREL. 

 Callospermophilus chrysodeirus chrysodeirus (Merriam). 



PLATE III. 



Other names. — Gilded Squirrel ; Gilded Ground Squirrel ; Copper-headed Ground 

 Squirrel ; Copperhead ; Yellow-headed Chipmunk, part ; Golden Chipmunk ; Side- 

 stripe Ground Squirrel ; Bummer ; Trinity Ground Squirrel ; Callospermophilus 

 chrysodeirus trinitatis; Citellus chrysodeirus, part; Spermophilus chrysodeirus, part; 

 Spermophilus lateralis; Callospermophilus lateralis chrysodeirus ; Citellus chrysodeirus 

 trinitatis; Tamias chrysodeirus; Tamias lateralis, part. 



Field characters. — A medium-sized, ground-dwelling squirrel with conspicuous 

 stripes along sides of body; whole head more or less deeply yellow or coppery red; 

 build stout; length of body without tail about 7tj inches, with tail about 3£ inches 

 more. 



Description. — Adult in fresh late-summer pelage : Whole top of head and hind 

 neck, orange-cinnamon ; cheek and side of neck to shoulder, ochraceous-tawny ; side 

 of snout, area around eye, ear and spot behind ear, ochraceous-buff of varying inten- 

 sity; whiskers black. Two black stripes and an intervening buffy white stripe on 

 each side of body; the whitish stripe longest, extending from shoulder over side of 

 rump nearly to base of tail ; the lower black stripe next in length, the upper shortest 

 and it and its fellow of opposite side separated by a median band of grizzled light 

 cinnamon-brown ; this band extends from between shoulders backwards to base of 

 tail, and expands on rump to cover flanks ; side of body below lower black stripe, 

 light buff, obscured by dusky hair-tippings. Upper sides of feet light buff ; 



88 



